The Himalayan country, which abandoned fossil fuels, has a surplus of energy from renewable sources during the monsoon season, and has begun exporting it to Dhaka through the Indian electricity grid. The tripartite agreement provides for a supply from June to November until 2029. It constitutes a turning point for connections between South Asian countries.
Rome (/Agencies) – A tripartite agreement between Nepal, India and Bangladesh, the only one of its kind, has inaugurated a new phase for energy connectivity in South Asia. On Friday, November 15, two years after the talks began, Nepal began exporting electricity to Bangladesh through the Indian power grid. It is the first time that Nepal has exported its energy to a country other than India. The five-year agreement was signed on October 3 and mainly refers to supply during the monsoon season, from June 15 to November 15.
The agreement was signed by the executive director of the NEA (Nepal Electricity Authority), Kulman Ghising, on behalf of Nepal, and is authorized by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission of India to export electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh through the State central Madhya Pradesh. The NEA will receive 6.40 cents per unit of electricity (Rs 8.62 at the current exchange rate). NEA will earn US$28,160 from exporting power to Bangladesh for 11 hours and 30 minutes. NEA will receive payment at Muzaffarpur point.
The export to Dhaka was inaugurated by the Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of Nepal, Deepak Khadka, the Minister of Energy of India, Manohar Lal, and Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, advisor to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh, that on Friday they pressed a virtual switch together. The electricity – 40 megawatts – will be supplied to the Muzaffarpur substation in India through the Nepal-India interstate transmission line called Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur. From there, the power will be transmitted to Bangladesh through the Baharampur (India)-Bhermara (Bangladesh) line.
It has been a symbolic start as the supply will be made only in the monsoon season. Exports from Nepal to Bangladesh began on November 15 at 12:30 pm and will continue until midnight today, to resume in June 2025. However, this does not diminish the historical importance for these countries.
Nepal has a surplus of hydropower due to its rich water resources, which include glaciers, melting Himalayan snow, abundant rainfall and underground springs. Last September, thanks to investments in hydroelectric plants, it abandoned fossil fuels as a source of energy, concentrating entirely on renewable energy sources, and has a surplus that it can sell to Bangladesh, an energy-scarce country. The agreement was made possible thanks to the permission granted by India for the transit of energy through the national electrical grid, following numerous requests from Nepal. The decision had been announced during the visit of former Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” to India in May-June 2023.
On that occasion, India and Nepal expressed in a declaration their commitment to greater subregional cooperation, including in the energy sector, which would lead to increased interconnections between the economies of regional countries for the benefit of all stakeholders. Energy connectivity, furthermore, is a key component of India’s plans to establish greater trade and investment links with other countries. India has also helped build pipelines to Nepal and Bangladesh for fast and cheap transportation of gasoline and diesel.
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